Long Island Entrepreneurs Pitch Startup On ABC's 'Shark Tank'

OLD WESTBURY, NY — The founders of a Long Island startup will be shooting their shot on Friday's season finale of "Shark Tank."

The Players Trunk, an online marketplace where college athletes can sell their gear and merchandise, was founded in 2020 by three former college team student managers and two former athletes. It still operates from the Old Westbury home of the parents of Hunter, 24, and his co-founder and brother, Austin Pomerantz, 22, according to Newsday.

The Pomerantz brothers will be pitching their business idea to investors (otherwise called "Sharks") along with co-founders Jason Lansing, 23, of Chicago, and Charles Matthews, 25, a former University of Michigan basketball player who now is in the NBA's G-League.

"We tried to prepare ... but nothing prepares you for the moment," Hunter told Newsday. "When those double doors open ... that was a surreal experience."

On ABC's hit TV show, inventors of new products or services try to convince a panel to invest in their idea. The Sharks are multimillionaire and billionaire tycoons who give budding entrepreneurs the chance to chase the American dream and potentially secure business deals that could make them rich, according to the show's bio.